Chinese firms are set to become a major trading force in the global liquefied natural gas market in coming years, thanks to liberalizations at home and recently signed long-term contracts for record amounts of LNG from U.S. suppliers.

Setting their sights beyond the domestic market, state-run Sinopec Corp., Sinochem Group, privately-controlled ENN Natural Gas Co. and China Gas are building up trading teams from Beijing and Singapore to London.

China¡¯s push into the international LNG market comes two decades after it made a similar big splash in oil trading, and will put its firms in competition with established players like Shell, TotalEnergies and Vitol.